the penguin five: interview with brenna yovanoff and giveaway!09.17.2010

The winner of the first copy of The Replacement is: EMILIE. Congrats!

And now, for an interview with the lovely Brenna Yovanoff–and a chance to win the second copy of the book. Please read on…

Brenna, welcome! Can you tell us the top five things you think we should know about you?

Thanks so much for having me, Ally! Hmmm, what to say about me . . . Well, here’s something you’d notice right away: I have a lot of very yellow hair that kind of makes me look like a small lion wearing a dress. Not as readily apparent: I like indoor-gardens, horror movies, cotton candy, and mittens.

The Replacement is a horror novel, but one of the most important themes is that of love. I really enjoyed seeing how the siblings in the story (Mackie/Emma, Tate/ Natalie) looked out for one another and cared for one another. Do you have brothers and sisters? Did that influence your writing of the book at all?

I absolutely love writing about family relationships. I think they’re so fascinating, and it’s really fun to see how they shape various characters. I do have one sister (younger than me), and I grew up with a lot of younger cousins, but strangely enough, all my main characters so far have been the youngest of the family, or else only-children, so I don’t know what that means!

Music is also very critical to the story–the use of music to orchestrate and create feelings in people, the use of music as release, etc. Are you a musician? What music do you find serves some of those purposes (release, etc.) for you?

Confession time: I’m awful at music. I mean, I’m so bad that I actually failed an introductory class in high school, even though I showed up every day and tried really hard. I just do not have what it takes. But I love listening to music, and I like to imagine what it would be like if I had that intuitive understanding that some people just seem to be born with. My favorites are almost always songs with clever lyrics, and I love songs that tell stories or have fascinating characters, so I’m definitely a writer at heart!

The Replacement is a book that reads very well on its own. The story arc certainly feels complete, and yet the town of Gentry (and what lies beneath!) also seem full of possibility for future books. Is The Replacement the beginning of a series? And, if not, what can we look for next from you?

As of right now, there aren’t any concrete plans for a sequel, which certainly doesn’t mean I won’t be coming back to The Replacement in the future. Currently, I’m working on a book that doesn’t quite have a title yet, but almost! It’s about demons, mortal peril, moral ambiguity and kissing, and should be out from Razorbill next fall.

Can you share with us one of your favorite paragraphs/passages from your book?

Well, I’ve always kind of liked this passage from near the beginning of the book, where Mackie is thinking about the town of Gentry, and his place in it:

“Gentry was two different things, and at night, I could always see that second thing better. The town was its green suburban lawns, sure, but it was also its secrets. The kind of place where people double-checked the locks at night or pulled their kids closer in the grocery store. They hung horseshoes over their front doors and put up bells instead of wind chimes. They wore crosses made from stainless steel instead of gold because gold couldn’t protect them from people like me.”

And, finally, what are you reading right now?

Right now, I’m reading The DUFF by Kody Keplinger, and Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I really, really, really can’t read just one book—I try and fail miserably, so I tend to read in pairs or fours. Next on the list, Nightshade by Andrea Cremer and your own Matched, which I’m so excited for! (I may have cheated and started reading it already—shh, don’t tell the other books in my TBR pile!)

Thanks so much for having me, Ally!

Thanks for stopping by, Brenna–and now that I’ve read your writing, it’s incredibly intimidating to have you read mine.

To win the second copy of The Replacement, please comment on this post. Contest open to US/Canada. You can enter until midnight Saturday night (MST) and I’ll post the winner on Monday! Good luck!

I’m so excited Brenna is reading The DUFF! It was such an amazing book! It sounds like her TBR list looks a lot like mine =) Nightshade was awesome, and I’m dying to read Matched and The Replacement! I hadn’t heard of Heart Shaped Box, but any book that makes a Nirvana reference has my interest!

Wow!! Thanks for this interview; adore Brenna even more!! She totally rocks!! Also can’t wait for The Replacement even more so now. Is it Tuesday yet?! I’ve been itching to read this book for so long!! On top of my TBR list!! Thank you so much for the chances to win!! Ok, I’m way to hyped up….need to calm down haha!

I always like to see what authors are reading. I haven’t read The DUFF or The Heart-Shaped Box, but I do highly recommend both Matched (not sucking up here, really!) and Nightshade. They kind of rock. 🙂

I think its an interesting thing that she isnt sure she will do a sequel. Most of the authors with the popularity this book has gotten that she would do a sequel. I hope to win this book so i can see the hype. Thanks for te giveaway.

Thanks for the interview. I enjoy books which have good family relationships especially ones between siblings. Like you, I think they’re fascinating and provides good camaraderie. Growing up and even now in the present i spend a lot of time with my sibs and my cousins. Anyway, I’m very intrigued by the premise and the passage included in this interview.

i have advanced english class in it we had to choose a book, i chose the replacement. I have written a timeline along with illistrations to go with it on the book, a re-write of the ending, a free verse poem of the book, 60 facts and unknown words of the book, and a reading log journal to write down what i was experiencing while reading the book. i still have to do a poster, two illistrations of the main characters, and an analytical paper. at the moment im doing an author study where i have been trying to find more information on who breena yovanoff really is, so i ended up here and at http://www.brennayovanoff.com but so far thats all i can find. i know she has a blog and i will look there next for more information on her. i really enjoyed her book and i cant wait to read more.